Grober Green

Delft Blue Veal Inc. – 2120 Clyde Road, Cambridge, Ontario

Owner: Founded over 35 years ago by Jerry Bartelse, Delft Blue Veal Farms is a division of Grober Inc. Delft Blue is a principal national supplier of fresh, frozen, and fully cooked portioned veal and other value added meat products for Canada’s top foodservice and retail customers.

Farm background: Delft Blue Veal Farms produces high quality milk fed calves. Over an 18-week period these animals are fed a human food grade diet and grow from 100 pounds to over 500 pounds. With 2,700 calves, the farm’s large operation embarked its anaerobic digestion project for a number of economic and environmentally sustainable reasons.

Biogas System: The calf manure is the main input for one 1,750 m3 anaerobic digester along with discarded organic residuals provided by several food processing companies. The mixture is fed into the digester and produces up to 65% methane which runs one 140 kW MAN engine generator and a 359 kW genset, up to 24 hours/day to produce 499 kW of electricity to sell to the grid. The engines also produce hot water for use on the farm as part of their improved animal husbandry program. It is predicted that Delft Blue Farm’s cogeneration unit will produce enough electricity to power 500 homes 24 hours, 7 days a week, while reducing the farm’s fossil fuel consumption by 80%.

Biogas Benefits to the Farms: The implementation of the biogas system at Delft Blue Farms was critical for the management of its 2,700 calves or 17,739,000 litres of manure annually . The biogas system allowed for the removal of manure below the calves for better air quality (eliminating the need for electrical fans to evacuate odours). Fresh manure input into the digester provides better solids content to improve the Renewable Natural Gas production. In addition, the daily scraping of manure from the floors below the calves, extends the life of the concrete, thus sustainably elongates the life of the barn. The daily removal also improved the quality of the work environment and reduced stress for farm workers. The hot water produced by the two engines provides heat to the digester and other heat loads in the biogas plant. In addition, hot water is used in the barns to reduce the amount of fossil fuel purchased for heating and process demands. The farm is reducing its dependence on fossil fuels to 80%, selling surplus electricity generated to the grid thus creating a viable business enterprise that will have electricity sales as its baseline revenue. Output content produces land nutrients (digestate) and animal bedding for the calves.

Broader Societal Benefits: The biogas system has enabled the farm to significantly reduce its carbon footprint through the use of biogas to offset fossil fuel consumption, the capture of GHG, and the application of nutrient enriched digestate in lieu of commercial fertilizers for crops. Organic materials such as calf manure are treated through the AD process providing added protection to our surface and groundwater sources.

FIT Program Benefits: For Delft Blue, a reliable supply of electricity is sold under the FIT program to the OPA generating income for the farm. Jobs were created in Ontario retaining PlanET Biogas Solutions, Martin Machinery, among others, during construction and throughout operations. The marketability of veal, being that it is produced with the lowest carbon footprint, has opened up significantly to larger retailers at market value to consumers.

Future Opportunities: Delft Blue is a leader in its field promoting sustainability and innovation on farm. The biogas system has been an integral part of their growth. Delft Blue continues to work on uses for the digestate produced including, reclaimation of marginal lands using waste straw, hay and other post harvest cellulose based vegetation covered with liquid digestate and seeded immediately. This land in turn is able to grow vegetables/crops, sequester carbon, and add value back to the economy. Delft Blue Veal biogas system has acted as an educational resource in anaerobic digestion and project implementation for the public at large, particularly to other veal farms considering anaerobic digestion.

Contact: Ross Blaine – rblaine@grober.com
415 Dobbie Dr., Cambridge, ON, N1T 1S9
tel (519) 622-2500 x213
cell (519) 716-7677

Courtesy of

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